


Ignite

by whimsicott



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Arson, M/M, Mental Instability, Minor Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-12
Updated: 2015-11-12
Packaged: 2018-05-01 06:59:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,669
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5196575
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whimsicott/pseuds/whimsicott
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>MAMA powers!AU, Chanyeol is a pyromaniac who gets his fix from arson, regardless of who or what it destroys in the process. Until one day, he met someone worth keeping unsinged. Originally done for round 1 of exoments</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ignite

**Author's Note:**

> Originally done for and posted at Exoments. Thank you to Mavis for beta-ing this.

There was beauty in fire.

Chanyeol liked to watch them as they engulfed the world around him. The flames flickered red and orange and blue and green as they ate and ate, insatiable for as long as he wished them to be so.

He liked to watch as the world around him disappeared, crumbling under its strength. The world was painted and washed away in its brilliance and for the moment that it burned, everything was pure and beautiful.

Chanyeol watched. Chanyeol smiled.

Everything can burn, eventually. Everything can yield to the flames, eventually.

There was beauty in ashes.

 

 

"Did you guys hear about the forest fire?"

Baekhyun arrived late to their chemistry study group at the university café, only to drop the morning paper on top of the textbooks the rest of them shared on the middle of the table.

**_MYSTERIOUS FIRE DESTROYS FOREST_** , the paper read.

What a hyperbole, Chanyeol thought. He was careful not to let the fire spread too far. Not this time, anyway.

Although the attached photo didn’t even attempt to show his efforts to be considerate. The photo was a shot taken from a good distance away that showed orange flames on the dusk sky.

There was no art in it, and it took Chanyeol his all to not let his disgust show. That wouldn't fit in here - not in this stale university café filled with meaningless disconcerted sounds.

So instead, he knitted his eyebrows together and frowned.

"That's awful, I hope no one was hurt," he said, tone perfectly matching the words he spoke.

"Isn't it?" Baekhyun sighed. "Apparently no one was around though."

Of course not, Chanyeol wanted to say. He scouted his area well to make sure of that.

He wasn't ready to leave dead bodies behind just yet.

"It's that serial arsonist again wasn't it?" Jongdae commented as he took the paper and turned it to face him. He scanned the article quickly. "Yep, him again."

"Magic Pyro," Kyungsoo voiced out quietly.

Chanyeol didn't like that nickname. It originated from a faceless Twitter user after his third incident and went viral. The media latched onto that nickname ever since.

But he supposed it wasn't incorrect.

"As usual they couldn't detect how he started it," Jongdae reported after he skimmed the front page article. "And they couldn't stop it - not until it suddenly dies, just like that."

"It's as strange as ever," Chanyeol sighed.

"Right?! Man, shouldn't solving this be more interesting than --" he gestured to the books on the table. "This?"

"By 'this' you meant our degrees?" Kyungsoo raised an eyebrow. "What can we do that the police can't?"

Baekhyun sulked. "Nothing I guess but can't one fantasise? What if it's really magic?"

"Would someone who can do magic bother with pointless arson though?" Jongdae asked with a laugh.

"Hey, that's what I'd do," Chanyeol joked with a wide grin. "Cause the conspiracy theories and shit that came from this is amazing."

His friends glanced at each other and laughed.

"You'd be the worst pyro," Baekhyun rolled his eyes.

"You wouldn't be able to resist showing off," Kyungsoo pointed out.

"Well aren't we all glad you're not magical?"  Jongdae teased.

Chanyeol laughed along.

"You're right."

He lied.

 

 

Chanyeol flicked the flames to rest on his palm. It didn't burn him. It never did.

The flames had always been his friend. His real friend.

Or something like that, anyway.

Clenching his fist, the fire disappeared. He liked the lingering warmth on his palm and dug his fingers in deeper to bask them in it.

Time to get to work, he reminded himself.

He had the flat all to himself tonight. Kyungsoo had movie club, Baekhyun and Jongdae had a party at Joonmyun's flat.

Not what they were doing mattered to Chanyeol. What mattered was that none of them would burst into his bedroom to show him cat videos.

He didn't like being disturbed when he was researching his next location.

With the VPN sign on his tablet visible, he tapped open his browser and began looking for abandoned places around town.

 

 

He woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of things toppling down in the kitchen. Annoyed, he pulled himself up and groggily walked over, careful not to crash to the cabinet that was located too close to his bed in his box of a room.

As expected, the noise came from the kitchen. Jongdae and Baekhyun, back from the house party were giggling and flushed red, drunk. They made poor attempts to find the pots and instant food of their kitchen.

"You guys are so drunk," Chanyeol said with a fake laugh, trying to sound chirpy despite his grogginess and annoyance.

"Hey Yeollie," Baekhyun slurred, then laugh at his own slurring. "We're making food."

"I can see that," Chanyeol raised an eyebrow. He eyed Jongdae who was struggling to open the plastic that encased his meal. "Sort of."

"Hey man, I got this," Jongdae said.

Chanyeol shrugged and gave an amused smiled as he watched Baekhyun fumbled with the stove.

He could burn himself, Chanyeol found himself thinking.

Hoping.

No, willing.

As the fire started from the stove, Chanyeol told it to jump on to the sleeves of Baekhyun's sweater.

Chanyeol told it to jump on to the sleeves of Baekhyun's shirt with an unchanging smile and a pretty please laced in his mind.

"Shit! What the fuck?!" Baekhyun exclaimed.

"Shit!" Jongdae echoed, perhaps not knowing any other words with all the alcohol still in his system. "Fuck!"

Chanyeol watched the scene unfold for five seconds. Precisely five, his face unchanging from his previous smile. Precisely five, the little gap of time that he knew for sure would be unnoticed by his intoxicated friends.

And then, he twisted his expression into that of shock, just in time to meet Jongdae's panicked eyes.

"Shit," he became the third to said that word, in a quiet but panicked voice that he had practised. "Shit, wait, I got this."

Chanyeol helped Baekhyun to the sink, but it wasn't the pouring water that stopped the flames from eating further up Baekhyun's sleeves. Not entirely anyway.

It was Chanyeol who told it to stop, just like he told it to burn just minutes earlier.

"Fuck," Baekhyun cursed, but his tone was that of relief. "Fuck, thanks man, I owe you."

"Not at all," Chanyeol said in his comforting tone, complete with a gentle, tired smile. "You don't owe me shit man."

This time, he was telling the truth.

 

 

"So how did you manage to burn yourself?" Kyungsoo asked at breakfast the next morning. He had stayed out all night at a friend's, or so he claimed and no one questioned, therefore missing the beauty of the flames dancing on Baekhyun's sleeves.

"I don't know, it just happened 'kay?" Baekhyun grumbled. Mornings were never his favourite time of the day. Mornings combined with a hangover and almost getting set on fire was probably especially bad for him.

"You were pretty drunk," Jongdae pointed out. "You probably weren’t careful enough."

"Probably," Baekhyun said softly, somewhat hesitant. His eyes met with Chanyeol's across the table and he pulled his duvet closer around his body. "Yeah that's definitely it."

Jongdae laughed. "Do you know what this calls for?"

"What?" Chanyeol offered.

"A near death experience party!"

Kyungsoo rolled his eyes. "I knew you'd say that."

Chanyeol wanted to say that Baekhyun didn't really have a near death experience. The fire was relatively tame and wouldn't have been difficult to put out even if he wasn't there, but he said nothing and smiled.

"How about going to the usual tonight?"

"I can't," Chanyeol said. Three pairs of eyes were quickly on him and he shrugged. "I have other plans. Another night?"

"I would rather go another night too anyway," Baekhyun grumbled. "I'm not even over last night."

"Okay then," Jongdae pouted. "Saturday?"

"Better," Baekhyun said.

"Better," Chanyeol echoed in agreement.

 

 

The abandoned warehouse he found this time was better than the last one.

Located at the edge of town, it was broken down in places and local teens seemed to have taken the liberty to redecorate it with some of their awful street art.

Not as if spray-painted hearts in gaudy colours and initials should be called art, Chanyeol thought.

He carefully threaded through the building. It had a relatively simple structure, because really, these late nineties, early two thousands warehouse all have pretty much the same layouts and Chanyeol had seen enough of them to feel familiar with them.

But still, he liked seeing the place before it was gone.

It wasn't as if Chanyeol particularly wanted to focus on abandoned buildings. He wanted to burn something spectacular and important to others. Those always create the prettiest flames.

However he learnt that burning those without getting caught was difficult. He had researched other buildings – better, flashier ones - before but he needed time to figure out their security.

Besides, his power still wasn't what it could be yet. These abandoned warehouses were like good scrap papers on which he could practise his art on.

For now.

There shouldn't be anyone here, the warehouse after all, was nothing special. No scary local legends to cause local teens to do a test of bravery. No hidden treasures. Nothing to loot and there were better places to sleep in for the homeless in the area.

He didn't want to kill anyone. Not because he particularly cared about the sanctity of human life and all that they babble about in his compulsory history of science module, but because bodies cause a bigger uproar and therefore stricter security measures around town.

He can't risk that happening when he wasn't done practising. Not when his flames still did not burn with the kind of ferocity and beauty he wished for.

What Chanyeol liked about this particular warehouse was how how many paths were blocked and seemed to have been blocked for years. It was easy to imagine the nothingness behind each blocked passage instead of the human mess.

He kicked a couple of empty can to a rusted metal door just to be sure all that would die were rats.

"Ack!"

That wasn't a rat. That was a human voice. Muted by the door, but still human.

Chanyeol wanted to sigh audibly, but he didn't. He put on his best slightly scared but mostly surprised voice as he called out: "who's there?"

A small silence. "Uh, I'm."

"You're at least alive right?" Chanyeol said with a joking tone.

"What? Yeah. Yeah I am."

Unfortunately, Chanyeol thought as he silently rolled his eyes.

"What are you doing here?"

"Exploring," the voice beyond the door answered. "You?"

"Same," Chanyeol replied. Half-truth. "How did you get in there? I'm pretty sure the paths to that room is blocked."

The voice hesitated in answering. Or so it seemed, with the silence that greeted Chanyeol.

"Hello?"

"You're not going to believe me if I tell you."

"Try me," Chanyeol assured.

"I -- I don't know," and then a laugh. A muffled laugh, but not a sound Chanyeol hated. "Can you promise me -- this is dumb cause this is a secret from everyone I know and I haven't even seen your face -- can you promise me not to tell anyone?"

"I'm good at keeping secrets," Chanyeol promised.

"And don't get scared."

"Why would I get--"

"Hello."

The voice interrupted him. But it was no longer muffled by the wall between them. It came from behind Chanyeol.

Chanyeol turned back.

The voice was beginning to have a form. Bits of smoke in various shades of not quite whites and not quite blacks formed his body.

A young man around his age dressed in a knitted blue sweater ran his hand through his dyed, dark brown hair.

The smokes formed his smile. Shy and awkward and pretty as flames.

And Chanyeol could only watch.

 

 

There was something beautiful in smokes.

 

 

Of course, he never expected himself to be the only one who was born like this.

But maybe he had always hoped he was.

And maybe, he had always wished he wasn't.

 

 

Kim Jongin.

Chanyeol felt the name on his tongue and on his tongue and lips, although he didn't let it sound to the air of the university café. He clicked his pen again and again instead to join in the ugly symphony of those around him.

He was waiting for Kyungsoo. If he wasn't, he wouldn't have been here first thing in the morning on a cloudy mid-September Thursday.

He glanced out the window to see the crowd of students exiting out of the lecture halls, and he soon realised he was scanning their faces to see if Kim Jongin was among them.

Kim Jongin introduced himself as a student in the university, a year below Chanyeol, but other than that and the fact that he could teleport Chanyeol knew nothing else about Jongin.

Which was strange, considering he had walked Jongin home, all the way back to the student housing on the other side if town. But at that time, they had filled the conversations with meaningless talk.

Jongin had gotten Chanyeol to fill it with meaningless talks. Had gotten Chanyeol to talk about himself. Lie about himself. Again and again and again.

As he realised that now, Chanyeol felt frustrated.

He took a sip of his English breakfast tea as he continued to watch the outside, trying to look for Kyungsoo instead of Jongin.

Trying to distract himself from the idea of someone like Jongin existing.

Chanyeol finally caught a glimpse of Kyungsoo walking down the pathway, the small young man wearing a black long sleeved tee with black jeans, the whole look completed by the black messenger bag he had slung across his shoulder.

Kyungsoo was never the most noticeable person, but Chanyeol had learnt to find him.

Just as Kyungsoo approached closer and Chanyeol readied himself to give his roommate his signature wide smile and a friendly wave, Chanyeol noticed who Kyungsoo was with.

"Kim Jongin."

He let the name join the sounds that messily mixed together in the café, slipping out of his lips in a soft whisper no one took notice of but deafeningly loud to himself.

The copper skinned young man wore that pretty smile Chanyeol figured out he didn't disliked as he talked to Kyungsoo.

And Chanyeol found himself staring at Kim Jongin's every movement.

He hardly even noticed when Jongin parted with Kyungsoo, too enticed with how Jongin waved to even think on what a wave meant. Too engrossed on the figure of Jongin walking away to even notice that Kyungsoo was walking towards him.

"Hey," Kyungsoo said, startling Chanyeol. He raised an eyebrow. "Who were you staring at?"

Chanyeol laughed. "The guy you were with was pretty."

"Never knew that's your type," Kyungsoo placed his bag down and fished out his wallet. "I'm going to get coffee, you want anything?"

"His number," Chanyeol said jokingly.

"Don't be a creep," Kyungsoo retorted as he rolled his eyes.

"How about inviting him to Baekhyun’s surviving a near death experience party?"

"You really, really like him huh?"

"I really, really do," Chanyeol said with a grin. "Where did you know him from? What's his name?"

"Film club, Kim Jongin," Kyungsoo answered swiftly. Too swiftly, which Chanyeol knew from experience that in Kyungsoo's case meant he was either lying or leaving out crucial details. "I'm going to get my tea and we can start studying--"

"There's more than film club," Chanyeol said. "You can tell me, come on."

Kyungsoo shifted on his feet uncomfortably. He looked as if he was trying to find a less awkward stance and failing.

Chanyeol knew what that meant too. He had known Kyungsoo long enough to know.

"You slept with him!" He exclaimed.

The girls behind them turned back and looked at them, curious onlookers who cared more about strangers than people should.

Kyungsoo hissed at Chanyeol.

"Do you have to shout it out for everyone to hear?!"

Not that anyone would really listen, Chanyeol thought. But he maintained his wide smile anyway.

"When?" He said. A little louder than he should, again catching the attention of the girls behind them. He was feeling a little spiteful, maybe.

A little jealous, maybe.

Why should Kyungsoo get to be with Kim Jongin?

Why can't he? He was the one who knew about Jongin and how Jongin really was and understood that Jongin was like him and should be with him.

Not Kyungsoo. 

Definitely not Kyungsoo.

"On the night of Baekhyun's fire accident," Kyungsoo sighed, but he spoke anyway, he liked Chanyeol enough for that.

"Then, there are even more reasons for you to invite him to Baekhyun's survival party," Chanyeol reasoned.

"If it gets you to stop shouting and let me get my tea, then fine." Kyungsoo resigned. "You're so persistent."

"I fell in love at first sight?" Chanyeol jested with a controlled, silly-me little laugh and a shrug.

Kyungsoo rolled his eyes and hit Chanyeol on the head on his way to get his tea.

And with that, Chanyeol knew that he acted well.

 

 

"Sorry I'm late."

Chanyeol answered to Jongin's voice by looking straight to his eyes. Jongin hardly concealed his surprise at seeing Chanyeol there, his eyes widening and his mouth hanging open a little before he snapped it shut.

Chanyeol found himself pleased.

"Ooh, who's this?" Jongdae flashed a smile to Jongin, who responded with a smile back in return.

Chanyeol found himself displeased.

"Jongin," Kyungsoo spoke as he hit Jongdae on the arms. "This is Jongdae, that’s Baekhyun next to him and over there is Chanyeol."

"Nice to meet you, all" Jongin greeted. He took a seat next to Kyungsoo, and in their favourite U-shaped booth in The Red Stag, a sports bar frequented by other university students, this meant he faced directly across Chanyeol.

He looked down, away from Chanyeol after giving him a shy smile. Or a please don't tell anyone smile that he also had the night they first met. The two seemed interchangeable enough.

Chanyeol liked it either way well enough.

 

"Hey," he greeted Jongin as they stood outside. They didn't get much of a chance to talk that night, not with Jongdae and Baekhyun obnoxiously drinking and chattering. Not with how Jongin tried to hide behind Kyungsoo's much smaller body unsuccessfully.

"Oh, hi," Jongin replied. Again with that same worried smile.

Chanyeol laughed as warmly as he could manage. "Stop worrying, I didn't tell anyone."

"I wasn't --" Jongin paused and took a deep breath. His lips were curled into a small frown, and Chanyeol found out he didn't exactly disliked that either. "Okay, maybe I was thinking that. So," he hesitated in answering. "Thank you. For not telling anyone."

"Hey, I promised didn't I?"

"I'm a stranger, you didn't have to keep that promise."

"A promise is a promise," Chanyeol assured firmly.

And with that, he earned Jongin's smile. The pretty one and not the worried one.

"You're a good guy."

Chanyeol let his finger brushed against Jongin, ever so slightly. Let his warmth play against Jongin's skin, but just barely.

"I wouldn't say I am."

Jongin caught his hands, firmly.

"You really are, thank you."

Chanyeol smiled, his perfect trained smile and let his hands capture Jongin's and swallow it in his temperature.

 

 

Chanyeol flicked through his tablet. The details of the warehouse he met Jongin in was still stored in it.

He contemplated deleting it for a second. After all, he had technically failed to burn it down as planned, but upon gazing through the photos and placing his footsteps and Jongin's teleportation smokes across of it, he realised that he still wanted to watch it burn after all.

Even more so, perhaps.

There would be something beautiful in that particular warehouse in flame. Even more so than any other he had set on fire.

He turned off his tablet and put it away. There was no need to research for now.

For now, there was something more important.

Kim Jongin.

If he could find out more about Kim Jongin -- No.

If he could find out more about Kim Jongin and his teleportation, he wouldn't have to stick to burning warehouses. There were so many possibilities waiting for him. So many new artwork he could produce.

And it all lied with that person.

Kim Jongin.

The name was spelled out on top of the Kakaotalk chat screen that filled his smartphone.

Ignoring the other 42 unread messages, he watched at Jongin's being was spelled on every pixels on the screen.

And he replied to each of them with pixels of his own lies.

 

 

He met Kim Jongin for the third time a couple of days later at the university coffee shop. Jongin wore the same blue sweater as he did the night they first met, and upon feeling Chanyeol's gaze on him he realised that and blushed.

"I swear I have more than two sets of outfit in my wardrobe," he quickly defended himself. "And I washed this. Really."

"Hey, not judging," Chanyeol assured. "I was just thinking that sweater suits you."

"I'll tell my mum that," Jongin said.

"Your mum buys your clothes," Chanyeol stated to confirm, amused.

"You're judging me now?" Jongin joked. Half-joked, perhaps.

"Mm, I was just thinking it's cute."

Jongin laughed to hide his embarrassment.

Chanyeol listened as Jongin's laughter drowned the ugly noise of the world.

 

 

It really did not take long for Jongin to wave to Chanyeol at when they met on campus, even if Jongin said he wasn’t the waving kind. Their class times happened to coincide a few times a week and on Thursdays, they’d both be free after their four-thirty.

Chanyeol always asked Jongin out for tea after with his trademark grin and Jongin always replied with a shy yes. Turns out being friends with Kim Jongin wasn't exactly difficult because Jongin didn't have a lot of friends. It was difficult for someone like Jongin, Chanyeol supposed. Sweet, shy Jongin anxiously keeping the secret of his powers.

A secret Chanyeol knew. And Chanyeol knew Jongin appreciated him keeping it.

Jongin trusted him. That much was easy to see.

On the fourth Thursday, it was Jongin who asked him for tea.

"You're asking me?"

"Is that not okay?" Jongin worried.

Chanyeol walked closer to Jongin and let his temperature linger around Jongin. Let Jongin's linger against his.

"No, I like that," he said.

He felt like he had won.

 

 

Jongin studied literature. He carried around novels and highlighters and sat across Chanyeol as he marked and noted down his interpretation of old texts.

It wasn't something Chanyeol can do. Too abstract. Supposedly beautiful but to him it was just incomprehensible.

"It's not like I can do chemistry either," Jongin said.

"But chemistry is solid," Chanyeol said. "Maths."

Jongin shrugged. "I don't know. From what I learnt in high school there's a certain art to it, isn't there?"

"Like?"

"God I told you I'm awful at chemistry," Jongin laughed. "But how chemical one and two can be harmless individually but together they can burn your skin off? Isn't that pretty mysterious and poetic?"

Chanyeol blinked.

Chanyeol's heart skipped a beat.

"It is."

He agreed.

In a way, he fell in love with Jongin's words.

 

 

"You're spending a lot of time with Jongin," Kyungsoo said.

They sat in the university café, just five minutes ago Jongin was in Kyungsoo's seat.

Chanyeol already hated how it was no longer Jongin who sat across from him. He hated how the awful café looked ugly again and the sounds around him started to hurt his ears again after Jongin left, with his smile and the light in his eyes and his laughter that drowned everything else out.

But as he knew he should, he smiled at Kyungsoo.

"I told you, it was love at first sight."

 

 

Chanyeol browsed through the photos of the places he wanted to see burn. Not the warehouses, the small fry he used for practise that no one would truly miss. Not the little patch of the forest, which burned spectacularly and beautifully but was an incident that was soon forgotten.

 The city hall, the old church that was converted into a university lecture hall, the whole mountain.

All the places he had to plan ahead and be careful about.

Or not, if he could teleport in to start a fire.

And teleport away to start another, in some other place of town. In some other landmark of the world.

He flicked to a photo of Jongin. A side profile that he took when he left him to get something to drink. 

This was the only photo he had of Jongin. He had never asked Jongin to take a photo, unsure exactly how to ask since everyone’s always initiated it with him and Jongin just didn’t.

He liked this photo anyway. Jongin unaware, unguarded, eyes fixed on his book, a cheap paperback of a classic with awful typeface and yellowed pages that he said he had bought for almost nothing at a second hand shop.

Jongin blending in with the world around it.

Making it whole.

Chanyeol wanted Jongin because Jongin was useful. That was how it was supposed to be.

And Jongin still was. Yet he was even more important than Chanyeol thought. Jongin the last piece Chanyeol needed in creating his eventual masterpiece.

Jongin was beautiful as he was, unsinged.

And he needed that to tie everything together. The contrast between how Jongin smiled and laughed and the sound of Jongin's voice to drown out the ugly noise of sirens and shoutings. Jongin's existence to tie everything together.

Jongin would be beautiful standing in a burning world.

 

 

Chanyeol didn’t expect to come home to Jongin a few days later. The younger’s eyes widened a little in surprise when he saw him, as if he was the one who belonged there to begin with and Chanyeol was the unexpected guest.

He could almost have Chanyeol believing that. Jongin fitted in perfectly anywhere.

“Welcome back,” he greeted.

“Thanks,” Chanyeol replied. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m watching A Single Man with Kyungsoo,” Jongin said. When he noticed Chanyeol just blinked at him, confused, he continued. “It’s a movie with Colin Firth - 66th Venice Film Festival Nominee -- I’m boring you.”

“You’re not,” Chanyeol said as he fixed a smile on his face. Of course Jongin was here with Kyungsoo. Here to watch some award winning film that were supposed to make you smart if you get that he himself had never seen. Of course Jongin was with Kyungsoo, and he had to work harder for his smile this time because he didn’t like Jongin with anyone else. “Can I join?”

“Oh,” Jongin looked down meekly so he only slightly glanced up at Chanyeol. “We’re already halfway through, sorry.”

“Oh--”

“But!” Jongin interrupted to continue. “There is something I’d like to talk to you after. Since you’re here. I mean--" Jongin flustered. “Since I’m here. If you have time.”

“For you, always,” Chanyeol said, feeling smug, suddenly, that Kyungsoo was watching a movie with Jongin but Jongin wanted to talk to him.

Jongin smiled widely at him.

He was getting into the habit of telling the truth around Jongin.

 

 

“Thanks for agreeing to walk me out,” Jongin said. He wrapped himself in a light blue coat - his usual, which he said, was again bought for him by his mother.

Chanyeol himself had his jacket on. That was what was expected of late October, even if to be honest, he wasn’t cold at all. Since he learnt about his flames, he had never did, but T-shirt and shorts on days everyone else was shivering to stay warm stood out and Chanyeol wasn’t a fan of standing out.

“What did you want to talk to me about?” he asked.

He liked walking side by side with Jongin, down the stairs of his flat and down the quiet streets. He liked his hands just about brushing with Jongin’s.

He liked turning to Jongin to speak, and how shyly Jongin answered.

“Do you have time now?”

“I told you, for you, always.”

Jongin smiled. His hands stopped simply brushing across Chanyeol’s to take hold of his.

Jongin’s skin was cool against his. Everyone’s skin was cool against his. But the difference between his temperature and Jongin’s was different.

Like everything else about Jongin was different to him.

“I want to take you somewhere,” Jongin said. “I’ve never - I’ve never gone somewhere with someone else with this.”

“You can try with me,” Chanyeol said easily, he held Jongin’s hand back. He felt Jongin’s hand back.

“Are you sure?” Jongin asked, eyebrows knitted in worry. “Because I’m not - not exactly.”

“What do they say? You’re smarter than you think --”

Chanyeol stopped talking as he saw Jongin blush. As he felt Jongin’s temperature rise to crawl closer to his. He laughed.

“You’re embarrassed from that?”

“More flattered that you trust me,” Jongin said, quickly and softly and nervously. As if everything he said was silly and unrealistic and as if no one could trust him even though he was the most real thing Chanyeol had ever seen. He held Jongin’s hand tighter.

And when he leaned in to kiss Jongin, he realised he liked the touch of Jongin's lips against his more than the brushes of fingers and the lingering temperature and the hands securely in his.

And when Jongin kissed back he liked that even more.

"So," Chanyeol spoke, voice soft, lips curled to a smile without him knowing, face close to Jongin's because he wasn't sure if he wanted to part. "Where are you taking me?"

Jongin let his hands rest within Chanyeol's. He wasn't meeting Chanyeol's eyes though, not with how embarrassed he seemed.

A contrast to how firm his grips on Chanyeol's hand was.

Chanyeol watched as Jongin closed his eyes and breathe in deeply.

Chanyeol watched as the world disappeared in Jongin's beautiful smokes.

But he blinked as they disappeared.

 

 

He blinked when they appeared.

The surrounding area was dark and Chanyeol found himself having to adjust his eyes. He fought the temptation to lit the area with his fire. Because Jongin can't know that. Not yet.

Besides, he quite liked how his sense of touch was heightened in the darkness and he could feel every line on Jongin's hand.

"Where are we?" He asked, his voice subconsciously fell to whispers.

"The JMW Turner exhibit," Jongin replied, his volume matching Chanyeol's, low and hushed.

Chanyeol raised an eyebrow, comfortable with how Jongin wouldn't be able to see that in the darkness. He had heard about the exhibit on banners promoting it around town - a temporary exhibit of some famous English guy's painting.

Not his thing. This kind of art never was. Human painting, even if framed in gold and lauded by stuffy old men, was always impure.

Unlike his flames.

Unlike Jongin's hand

"We can't really see anything here," he said with a feigned light-hearted voice.

"We're still at the entrance," Jongin explained. He lead Chanyeol through with efficiency. His hand grew a little warmer, and his voice was embarrassed as he continued. "My sister works here, so."

"Is it safe here?" Chanyeol looked up to try to find the familiar blinking a of security cameras and found none.

"My sister works here and she said the security camera is down today," Jongin said. "They're just hoping for the best. And there are some guards patrolling but we'll hear them if they're coming."

Suddenly there was light.

They were dim, but after the darkness and the smokes Chanyeol had to take sometime to adjust his eyes.

"What do you think?" He heard Jongin ask.

As his sight cleared he saw what he wanted. He saw Jongin, joint to him by hand.

And he saw a world on fire wrapping itself behind Jongin.

"What is-- what's this painting?" He found the words dribbling out of him awkwardly.

"The Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons," Jongin answered with a smile. A strange smile Chanyeol have never seen grace Jongin's face before. Part mysterious, part graceful, part the Jongin he knew but not really. Perhaps it was the dim light. Perhaps it was how Jongin just looked in front of the painting. "Beautiful isn't it? A world on fire?"

The way Jongin spoke too was different. The hushed tone was so stable. So unlike the shy Jongin.

Jongin's grip on his hand tightened, and with that Jongin pushed weak words so they tumbled out of Chanyeol clumsily again.

"It really is."

Chanyeol knew he had to work on his masterpiece.

 

 

Jongin bid him goodbye as they teleported in front of his flat.

In the familiar light of his hallway, Jongin's smile was shy and sweet again and Jongin's voices the voice he knew and fell for.

And when he kissed Jongin good night, Jongin's embarrassed laugh was the same one that sounded like music in Chanyeol's ears.

 

 

"You bought a poster?"

Baekhyun stood on the doorway of Chanyeol's room with a quizzed look, which only deepened as Chanyeol unrolled his new A2 poster, the only one he ever bought.

"You bought a poster of a painting?"

Jongin took him to the gallery again that weekend, this time at a normal hour.

Chanyeol found every other painting dull, but he liked how Jongin held his hand as they walked through the crowd.

He liked it when Jongin stood in front of The Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons.

The poster of that painting was a present from Jongin, but Chanyeol frowned as he unrolled it, he frowned.

There was something missing with it as is.

"Jongin should be here," Chanyeol mused out loud.

"Jongin again?" Baekhyun glanced at the poster than Chanyeol. "Wait, Jongin got that for you?"

"He said because I like it," Chanyeol shrugged, even as he realised that he didn't like it as much as he liked Jongin who stood in front of it. "And that it should be inspirational."

"Inspirational for?"

Chanyeol shrugged once more as he tacked poster to his otherwise plain walls.

 

 

God knows what Jongin was thinking, Chanyeol would like to say.

Jongin had been the same Jongin he knew for the weekend museum trip. He dismissed the Jongin he saw that night to the lights playing tricks on him.

And the Jongin he knew should be straightforward and easy to understand. Shy and sweet and awkward Jongin, university student who liked his old books and older plays and had messy hair and wore clothes his mum bought for him.

He liked that of Jongin.

But somehow he couldn't quite pin Jongin down. There was something else.

Maybe, there was something else. Chanyeol wasn't even sure.

He looked at the poster that now hung on his wall.

"Inspiration for what?" He said aloud to the picture of a burning sky.

 

 

"Did you actually sleep with Kyungsoo?"

Jongin stared in confusion at the sudden question. They were in Chanyeol's room, the little closet that was even smaller with Jongin there, sitting on his bed with his thick book of poems and an orange highlighter in his hand.

"Why are you asking this all of a sudden."

"He told me that one time," Chanyeol quickly said. "I've been thinking."

"That one time," Jongin said without hesitation. Comforting. Reassuring. Knowing why he should be comforting and reassuring. "Never since."

Jongin studied Chanyeol for a while. He closed his book and put it together with his highlighter on top of his bag down on the floor.

He smiled that same shy smile as he touched Chanyeol's hand gently, the coolness of his hand was the one that danced against Chanyeol's skin this time.

"You want to sleep with me?"

"What?" Chanyeol sounded an unconvincing fake laugh. "Do I want to--?"

Jongin's laughter came more easily. Always had. "I usually use sex as an icebreaker," he said, flustered despite his usual smile. Or perhaps his usual smile gave the illusion that he was more flustered than he was. "But since I met you showing you that side of me, well."

Chanyeol regained his composure quickly enough and smiled his charming smile again.

Practise makes perfect.

"So that means you like me?" He teased.

"Yes," Jongin admitted, his hand wrapped itself around Chanyeol's.

This time it was Jongin who swallowed Chanyeol whole.

 

 

Jongin's own flat was shared with another freshman named Oh Sehun. Chanyeol was aware of the area - popular with students just like his, he had been there when Baekhyun and Jongdae dragged him to house parties.

There were also a couple of abandoned buildings nearby whichever he had been eyeing for his next step. That, to him, was more important.

He eyed the buildings from Jongin's own room, a cube not much bigger than his own with a small window. The view outside mostly blocked by the tall tree in front of the building. Chanyeol could just about make the other building a few metres away though, a former student housing that had gone out of date and to disrepair and he knew was under discussion for demolition and reconstruction.

"Bad view huh?" Jongin interrupted him, appearing from behind Chanyeol with a tray of juice and biscuits. "Sorry, Sehun took all the beer to this house party."

"It's okay," Chanyeol said. "Why did you even have beer? Aren't you underage?"

"And you didn't have alcohol as a freshman?"

True that.

"The view isn't bad," Chanyeol changed the subject. "Nice... Nice tree."

"It's a nice tree," Jongin conceded. "Do you want to look at it all night?"

"No, I want to --"

"We can start with movies," Jongin interrupted.

"What did you think I was about to say?" Chanyeol teased.

"Doesn't matter," Jongin said, with a blush creeping up his face. "Because we can start with movies."

"Can I stay the night?"

Jongin let out an embarrassed, high pitched laugh. He replied with a kiss, at first shy, but soon became an all encompassing whole.

 

 

That defined Jongin's every movement to begin with anyway. And even as the movies were abandoned in favour of kisses and touches and everything that he had been thirsting for from Jongin he wasn't quite sure if he had Jongin.

When Jongin came undone with Chanyeol sheathed inside of him, that kind of beautiful mess that Jongin's poetry sang about. The kind of art that existed only then and there. The kind fitting for a boy made of smokes.

But when Chanyeol tasted Jongin's kiss mixed with moans he knew that he would be the one trapped here.

Jongin could always disappear, if that was what he truly wanted.

 

 

"But you do want me right?"

Jongin laughed and answered him with a kiss, dragging Chanyeol further in.

 

 

Chanyeol took out his tablet and turned on his VPN, just to be sure. He flipped through information regarding the building Jongin could see from his room.

The Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons hung over him and each stroke of the painted flames reminded him of Jongin.

 

 

He was woken up by Jongdae and Baekhyun stumbling in drunk on Tuesday night.

He stood, arms crossed as he watched them stumble in, his fake smile not quite perfect as he had just been woken up at an ungodly hour of three in the morning.

"You guys are so wasted," he said teasingly with his obvious observation. The pair, obviously having learnt nothing from the previous incident a few months ago, were struggling with a packet of instant noodles and a pot with still cold water.

"Hey we got this," Jongdae said.

"Sure you do," Chanyeol said.

He imagined the flames to eat them up.

He wished.

He willed.

 

 

"What the fuck happened now?" Kyungsoo asked. He wore his heavy coat, having come from straight from the movie club late autumn/early winter horror movie rest with Jongin quietly in tow.

The university hospital was oddly lively for this time of the night, but that was probably because they were in the emergency section filled with injured drunks and their friends.

"Jongdae burned himself," Baekhyun said. "It didn't seem too serious though--"

Chanyeol knew Jongdae had it worse than Baekhyun before. He watched his own flames with fascination and not fade them away in time.

He'd live, Chanyeol was sure.

"-- anyway he's with the doctor now so - it looked like it'd be okay, right Chanyeol?"

"Yeah," Chanyeol said with a feigned, weak smile.

It could be worse. It could be much, much worse.

"Are you okay?"

His eyes flicked to Jongin. The younger boy looked worried for him.

"Definitely," he said.

Jongin frowned. "Let's get some drinks?" He turned to Baekhyun and Kyungsoo. "Could I get you anything?"

"Hot coffee please?" Baekhyun said. Baekhyun was genuine in how worn out he was. His smile to Jongin was apologetic in all the sincerest way.

"Just water for me," Kyungsoo said.

Jongin nodded as he made note of the orders and pulled Chanyeol along with him by the sleeves to the vending machines.

The crowd thinned as they left the emergency room and walked to the dimly lit hallways to find the first vending machine without a crowd around it.

Jongin stayed quiet, but his hand was cool on Chanyeol's.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Jongin asked quietly as they arrived.

"I'm not the one who got burnt," Chanyeol said.

"I know, but," Jongin paused. Jongin stopped and not continue his sentence. He mumbled a couple of words Chanyeol didn't quite hear.

"What is it?"

"Nothing," Jongin said quickly. "Would be nice if you trust me a bit more."

"But I do," Chanyeol assured.

Jongin placed a paper cup at the machine and let it fill in Baekhyun's coffee, black. He turned around and held Chanyeol's hand.

"It's early December and you're warm," he said. "Hot, even."

Chanyeol's heart skipped a beat.

"There's more than just smokes, huh?"

 

 

"You had a quarrel with him?"

"Kind of?" Chanyeol said weakly, watching Jongin's back disappear, half expecting it to teleport and not to walk away.

Wishing he would teleport, because somehow that felt like it would be less painful than watching Jongin walk away.

"All lovers quarrel sometimes," Jongdae reassured. He really gotta give this to Jongdae. While Baekhyun was shaken from having his sleeves burnt, Jongdae was chipper as soon as they walked into his hospital room, the burnt arm bandaged.

Chanyeol got to give it to Jongdae, who calmly reassured them they would be okay and they should all go for a near death experience drink as soon as he was let out.

Who even invited Jongin, only for Baekhyun to helpfully chip in about their so called lovers quarrel.

"It's not so bad," Chanyeol said. "Besides, we're all here about your arm."

Chanyeol had always been good at lying.

 

 

As soon as they got home that night Chanyeol took out his tablet and found details on the building right outside of Jongin's window.

Abandoned for the past forty years, a former student housing, sometimes used for parties by the students who lived nearby.

The building itself is relatively contained within its gates, but fire could still spread through the trees and to nearby buildings, most of which are students occupied residences.

Not the safest place to burn, not even in the area with had safer choices - more contained, less people.

But they weren't the best choices.

They weren't the one building that would show Jongin the prettiest sight.

That would make Jongin's flat beautiful. 

 

 

His flames jumped on the ground at first, two, three, four times before they rooted themselves and spread.

Chanyeol stood outside and watched it burn with the unknowing students gasping and shouting.

He then turned to see the window of Jongin's room behind the tree.

It was there that he met Jongin's eyes.

 

 

Chanyeol had always hoped that he wasn't alone.

 

 

Jongin's smokes were not quite the same as the ones that framed his latest piece, but Chanyeol found something comforting about the way it appeared for a second when no one watched and disappeared, taking him whole before anyone noticed.

When he opened his eyes, he stood in a bundling he had read about. A room in one of those old abandoned residences with a large window with the perfect view of the burning building.

And then there was Jongin.

Jongin stood in front of the window, the burning behind him made a pretty background to his smile.

"It's beautiful," Jongin said, taking a glance behind him. He closed the space between him and Chanyeol and pressed his hands against Chanyeol's chest.

Pressed his lips against Chanyeol's lips.

Jongin was cooler than Chanyeol and tasted of smoke, and the temperature of his skin played against Chanyeol's and overwhelmed him entirely.

 

 

There was beauty in fire.

There was beauty in Kim Jongin and the world burning right around them.

 

The fire was put out by the fire department before it spread too far, but there were a couple inside - freshmen, about the same age as Jongin - who were just looking for a place to fuck.

They didn't make it out alive.

Chanyeol stared at the poster on his wall as Jongin's body pressed down on him.

"Inspiration for what?" He asked again, out loud.

"For your masterpiece," Jongin said, his fingers wrapped themselves around Chanyeol's.

 

 

"Did you guys hear about the fire at the gallery?!"

Baekhyun announced, slapping down a newspaper on to the middle of the table.

"It's awful," Jongdae said with a frown. "All those beautiful artwork."

It was beautiful, Chanyeol thought. Paintings burnt so, so well and the colours of the flames against the night was something the ugly newspaper photo could not even come close to capturing.

The way they reflected on Jongin's skin as Jongin stood in front of him, appearing in his smokes was his masterpiece.

But he nodded along anyway.

Chanyeol had always been good at lying.

**Author's Note:**

> This was a difficult fic to write because I wanted to do a different take to their personas while still trying to make them still them. I'm not sure if I succeed in that, but I hope you enjoyed the story anyway!


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